There are times in life when it feels like everyone, and everything, is against you. Your efforts to live an obedient and fruitful life blow up in your face. How can we stand on God’s promises during such trials? Susie welcomes Pastor James Merritt to the program to talk about his book, Still Standing. James knows firsthand how difficult it can be to stand up when life knocks you down, but we talk about how to trust Christ and get back on your feet.
Susie: You’re gonna get what you don’t deserve, the question is, how will you deal with it? So talk about the fairness, and then our perspective when this stuff happens.
James: When you read the story of Joseph, there’s this little phrase that keeps popping out at you. In fact it almost gets annoying. You keep reading, “but The Lord was with Joseph, but the Lord was with Joseph, he was thrown in the pit, but the Lord was with Joseph, and he was thrown into prison, but the Lord was with Joseph…” I’m just being honest, I’m being transparent, If I had been Joseph, I tell you what I woulda said to the Lord, I woulda said, ‘Lord, why don’t you go be with somebody else!’ But the point is, even when there is no evidence at all that God is there, He is. You have to remember the same God that was with Joseph in the palace is the same God that was with Joseph in the prison, and the same God that was with Joseph in the pit. What God is doing, even in the darkness days of our life, when life is most unfair, when you get dealt the worst hand you can possibly imagine, God’s moving the chess pieces around the board on your life, and in the end he made a promise, He’s never failed, “I will work all this out together for your g0od.”
Key Scriptures: John 14:6; John 16:33; John 7:2-5
Theme Song: Get Back Up by TobyMac
